Albania’s two main parties passed an election code that they said would ensure the holding of free and fair elections next year, but minor parties complained it would work against them.

Deputies of the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition Socialists cast 112 votes for the measure in the 140-seat parliament where 10 opposition politicians had staged an eight-day hunger strike to prevent its passage.

The European Union has made it clear to ex-communist Albania, which has yet to hold elections that meet international standards, that next year’s vote must be above criticism if it wants to join the 27-member bloc.

“This code will be remembered not only because it will ensure free and fair elections, but as a great example of political cooperation,” said Ilir Rusmali, a Democrat who was co-chairman of the commission that drafted the code.

The Democrats and Socialists said they had written a code based on the best European models without foreign tutorship well ahead of the election, a milestone for Albania’s 17-year-old democracy.

But minor parties believe the new regional system of proportional representation will greatly reduce their number of seats at next year’s general election.

After the law passed, Ilir Meta, one of the hunger strikers, warned of escalating the protest to restore the “sanctity of the vote”.

“This is a crime against the constitution and democracy,” Meta, unshaven and looking tired, told a crowd of protesters who chanted “Shame” outside the parliament building.

“You are approving the code of theft and are undermining the 2009 elections,” Nard Ndoka, a former ally of Prime Minister Sali Berisha, told parliament before ending his hunger strike.

In a rare show of consensus in April, the two main parties agreed to change an electoral system tainted by allegations of fraud.

Democrats and Socialists alike had been accused of fraud and exaggerated use of tactical voting under the previous system, usually aimed at boosting the seats of their small-party allies so they ended up with more powerful coalitions.

But the practice often backfired and led to instability, as small parties bargained for favours and slowed the pace of reforms, or switched allegiances in return for official posts.

“This code … can erase from memory the dark stories of vote trafficking that produced weak governments, which could be easily blackmailed,” Socialist deputy Fatmir Xhafaj said.

Background

SNV/Albania, Diber Team has a contract with the Municipality of Peshkopi to provide a number of advisory services. Specifically, two advisory service objectives were drivers for this study tour: 1) establishing citizen advisory commissions on a neighborhood level; and 2) improvement of tax management system: collection, transparency and communication with citizens. Within these objectives a number of specific activities were planned; but in neither case, was a study tour initially incorporated into the activity work plan. As implementation of the work plans have occurred, adjustments have been made based on new opportunities and new insights gained from implementing a prior activity.

In this case, as the tax management objective/project was being implemented, we hired a consultant to assist on the technical and legal specifics of tax forecasting, collections, management and monitoring, enforcement, etc. Two interesting developments emerged from this activity. First, the consultant(s) were a team of experts. One from a municipality with very practical knowledge and experience.1 The other is an attorney from the Albanian Association of Municipalities, a national capacity building and lobbying organization for local municipalities. We found that by working together with this specific client (i.e.: Municipality of Peshkopi) that we could likely develop complimentary2 and replicable advisory services, for other municipality tax offices throughout Albania.

The second development was that in Kucove, the municipality of one of our consultants, there is a very active Advisory Commission. This Commission has been involved in providing input on their taxes and budget. The consultant invited the Peshkopi tax office staff to come and see his operations in Kucove in more detail; and, he invited us to bring advisory commissioners along and he would ensure that they met some Kucove commissioners too. This second development is where the study tour idea began.

Another development arose independent of the above, from the networking that was taking place within AAM and the motivation of the Mayors of Peshkopi and Saranda. The Mayor of the Municipality of Saranda, invited the Peshkopi tour group to come and be guests in his town and to share with his staff our experiences with the Advisory Commission. (Saranda does not have a citizen advisory group.) In exchange, he and his staff would share their experiences/successes with tourism, a development area that Peshkopi wants to grow. t

1 This expert, the Tax Director from the Municipality of Kucove, is “heads above” all others in Albania. He is used by the U.S. Urban Institute as a consultant. Through his leadership and management, his office has increased tax revenue in Kucove by five times in approximately four years.

2 Complimentary service: SNV advisors attend to process issues and community transparency. We also initiate the work based on demand and need known fromour local government networks and we can provide on-going support/advice in areas tha we have teams. The AAM provides the legal expertise and training. They also partner with us in terms of LGt networking. Finally, the Kucove expert offers the hands-on knowledge and various technical mechanisms to make tax office/administrative improvements.

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We confirmed the goals of the study tour with our client and agreements were made about sharing financial and logistical responsibilities of the tour. The goals were as follows:

1. To learn about how the municipality of Saranda developed a tourism office and how they are making progress.

2. To learn from the experiences of the Kucove municipality regarding taxes, tax systems, and how they made the changes. And, how the advisory commission participates.

3. To observe and learn about specific tax system administrative mechanisms, including software, forms and files.

4. To share and learn from the experiences of both municipalities (Peshkopi and Kucove) about the value and functioning of citizen advisory commissions.

General Description

The tour included two female advisors from SNV, the mayor of Peshkopi, Director of the Public Information Office, Director and Inspector of the Tax Office; and, 7 members of the Advisory Commission(s).3 Except for SNV advisors, all participants were male. One female commissioner declined the day before. We traveled in one mini-bus and the municipality car, with two drivers.

The trip started at 4 a.m. from Peshkopi and began fairly uneventfully, making good time toward our first destination in Saranda. Just after the national park in Llogara, complete with photo opportunities with the tame deer/fauna, the mini-bus broke down. From this point on, we were continually behind on our schedule, about a half a day.

In Saranda, there was a dinner (hosted by the Saranda mayor & staff) and staff briefings from their mayor, Tax Director and Tourism Director. The location of the formal briefings were changed to the informal dinner setting, due to our delays and a power outage in Saranda just as we arrived at the Bashki. Much of the learning happened through dialogues and conversations around the table. Saranda had an equal number of staff participating in the dinner as we brought along and each sat directly across the table from one of us (even the English speaker, was across the table for Fuji.)

The following day, we toured the archeological site at Butrint and stopped briefly at the castle. The night before, at the dinner, the Mayor of Saranda was fairly insistent that we “take in” at least one of their tourist attractions before leaving. The group chose Butrint, which was not difficult since the Mayor arranged a private tour guide for us. Consequently, we missed our 3:00 meeting in Kucove that day but easily re-scheduled it for 8 a.m. the following morning.

In Kucove, we were greeted by the Deputy Mayor, the entire staff of the tax office and the Chairman of their Advisory Commission. Over coffee, we learned about the progress in Kucove over the past few years, including the changes in the tax system and the market. Back at the Bashki, the Mayor joined us and we moved to the City Council Chambers for our meeting. The meeting with the mayor focused on the Advisory Commissions, their role and value to democratic processes, and transparency.

After the meeting, we split up: the mayors met together, the tax office folks went to the tax office, and the others toured Kucove and went to the market. We all met at the market about an hour later. Here we got a tour and description of the changes there and spent time in the satellite tax office at the market.

3 At this point, there are 10 neighborhood advisory commissions. Each has about 3 leaders (chair, vice and secretary-although not formally). Together, they make up about 30 members for the city-wide “advisory commission.” However, a city-wide structure has not been formally recommended or adopted.

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Photos were taken and gratitude exchanged (as occurred in Saranda too) and the trip rolled-on to Peshkopi, dropping off the SNV advisors in Fier. We needed to attend an SNV meeting.

Highlights of the Trip

Overall, the goals of the study tour were met. And where we may have fell short in terms of the time lost in actual meetings (particularly, in Kucova), was made up by other experiences, learnings, and professional growth!

Highlights from Saranda included:

􀂃 The professionalism of the municipality staff. The Peshkopi folks were very impressed by this and are still talking about it. We believe that they were role models for how people in public service can perform. Their pride in their community and their knowledge of their topics shined through in all of their conversations-they were great “ambassadors” for their community.

􀂃 The gender balance/statistics in Saranda municipality were also impressive. 45% of the staff are women, including the Chief of Staff, Director of the Tax Office and Director of the Tourism Office. The City Council is represented by 33% women and the Secretary of the Council is a woman.

􀂃 Peshkopi participants, particularly the advisory commissioners, were very honored by the Saranda mayor and staff. This increased their confidence and pride. Throughout the conversations, they listened to Saranda staff speculating and conceptualizing how to use an advisory group for their work in Saranda. (In the past, they have used experts in particular fields in ad hoc committees for advice.) We found this dynamic very interesting because it seemed that our Peshkopi commissioners were actually increasing their own understanding about their role, as Saranda folks speculated.

Highlights from Kucove:

􀂃 Here, our group heard very specific stories about citizen advisory commissions and they received advice. In many ways it was good that they already had their role “built up” in Saranda, because they engaged in rich dialogue with the mayor, deputy mayor and chairman of the Kucove Advisory Commission. They heard stories of how the Kucove commission evolved and matured over time, which is good ‘realistic-grounding’ for our members.

o They learned how they can and should gather input from citizens and give input to the municipality (both administration and council) on topics such as taxes and the budget.

o They were told that they need to go to the city council meetings and listen and learn or they will never start making an impact there. And that their role could and should evolve into being of value to the entire municipality and not just the mayor and his staff.

o They heard the mayor say that he listens to his commission and almost always does what they say-but not 100% of the time. However, he said that he knows that he cannot go against their opinions too often or he would be out of a job. Our members were impressed to hear such things.

o They discussed difficult things too, such as how to handle conflict within the community. Specific to Peshkopi’s current conflict, the mayor advised them to “make the issue more public.” He encouraged them to speak up and speak out about difficult topics and issues and to not shy away from conflicts. It was their role to ask the tough questions and demand transparency.

􀂃 The City Council Chambers/meeting room included chairs for the public (accommodating about a 30 person audience.) This generated a number of comments and ideas from our group.

􀂃 An unexpected highlight, for everyone, was the public market. They have a satellite tax office inside the market so the vendors can pay their tax conveniently and the inspectors can

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directly track/monitor as well. They showed us their impressive data related to tax collection and compliance, since they moved into the market.

􀂃 The market itself was also a source of pride for Kucove, and it gave a long-range vision to the tour group. It was clean, secure (locks for individual merchants well as the whole market,) and organized and consolidated in one location.

Overall:

􀂃 A major indictor of change and success, in our opinion, were two “speeches” from one of the more skeptical and extreme advisory commissioners. In Saranda, he “announced” to the entire group at the end of the dinner, that he was not of the same party as the mayor; but from what he heard so far, he was agreeable to keeping an open mind and he would try to understand what the mayor was trying to accomplish. At the end of the meeting in Kucova, he promised to the whole group, that when he returned to Peshkopi, that he would talk to his fellow opposition party members and try and get them to understand and support the establishment of the advisory commissions.

􀂃 On the return trip, the advisory commission concluded that it might be helpful if they added some members with some specific expertise. This could help with the quality of their advice and increase their overall knowledge. They discussed/are aware that there are many ways they could structure themselves in the future. Any new experts could be part of them (as members), or an appointed and specialized group(s) as needed. The mayor has given them the “freedom to choose,” (as this is still a mayor-initiated pilot). They decided to try and recruit new and motivated members and not to form “expert-only” types of groups because they believe that they have something very unique/important in the way they are organized as “average citizens from the neighborhoods.”

􀂃 In terms of taxes and tax management, there are so many things that could be implemented similar to Kucove. Any one of them would be an improvement. Our fear is that the changes needed are quite large and that Peshkopi’s tax office staff might try to do all of them and become overwhelmed. This is where our on-going coaching and advice is needed. Our continued workplan for “tax management improvement,” includes technical assistance for the tax office and also the community participation piece. With the latter piece, we will likely braid it with the advisory commission’s development, assuming that the advisory commission development remains on our long-term contract with the Peshkopi Municipality.

􀂃 We need to anticipate that tourism and economic development initiatives on the part of this client are “just around the corner.” The mayor was very excited about Saranda’s accomplishments and the advisory commissioners got a glimpse of what tourism can do for an area. We have opportunities to approach this in a manner that involves actors from all sectors. We need to capitalize on this opportunity because the community lacks experience in working together.

Recommendations for Future Tours:

􀂃 Do It! If you think that it might not be worth the effort, think again. Peer to peer exchange of information and knowledge is one of the best ways that humans learn. Also, the “unexpected” can occur and it may springboard the group toward their next/future goals. Finally, you don’t have to travel too far from home to learn from experiential stories and gain new ideas.

􀂃 Before the trip, have a “preparation meeting.” Review the learning objectives, discuss what you may see and hear, brainstorm some key questions, and recommend that participants consult others who may not be going on the trip to generate more specific questions.

􀂃 At the preparatory meeting, assign each participant a “job.” For example, to take notes; to summarize what they heard/saw (maybe during the bus ride between stops); to prepare for the next stop by reminding folks about who they will see, the questions they generated, how much time they have, etc.(the agenda keeper); to write a report afterwards; to give a

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verbal report upon returning; or others. Or similarly, assign each person a meeting or part of the trip/tour to document (take the notes for the group). This is an example from another SNV study tour.

􀂃 Schedule a “return meeting” before leaving on the trip. This meeting can be somewhat social, maybe with picture sharing, etc. But, the main objective is to reflect and discuss learnings; to document the learnings; and to make decisions about what to do next. Next steps could include: preparing a more formal report to a larger audience; generating specific recommendations to another entity; taking actual action steps; or other. Since we did not have one of these scheduled, we are having many delays in trying to schedule one.

􀂃 Stay with the group all the way home. Of course you cannot always have the ideal calendar or schedule. But, another 7 hours together in a vehicle would have allowed more time to debrief the observations, reflect and process the learnings. This opportunity was missed by the SNV advisors; however, we trust/heard that some of this did occur.

􀂃 Anticipate that things take longer in a large group. Regardless of the breakdowns during our trip, everything (e.g.: lunch break) seems to take longer.

TIRANA, Oct 22. (ATA). Alternation of energy resources in Albania is necessary, Minister of Economy, Trade and Energy (ETE) Genc Ruli said at the German-Albanian economic conference “Market perspectives in Albania: Energy-Environment-Construction”, which was opened by Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

“Improvements have been made to the law “On concessions” in 2006, but alternation of energy resources are necessary in Albania, as currently 100% of these resources in the country are water resources,” Ruli said at the conference, which was attended by a large number of Albanian and German entrepreneurs.

“Albania has advantages in developing wind energy,” he said, stressing that the Albanian government “has given priority to the strengthening of inter-connection lines, whose building also enables power export to neighbouring countries.”

Referring to improvements and facilities in doing business in Albania, Ruli said: “The basic legal and regulatory guarantees, which are also found in foreign countries, have been established over the last three years.

“Albania has several competitive advantages, such as tax reduction, and the creation of the legal framework to set up a center in the form of “One Stop Shop” on permits and licenses is also being completed. This will further facilitate procedures for the business,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ruli said that work is underway also for the development of Albanian ports, considering this a very significant step to upgrade standards of infrastructure.

“We are conscious that problems on property titles still exist but we have approved creation of economic zones to facilitate building businesses in the country,” Ruli said, referring to the property title issue.

He added that three industrial parks were approved last September and that other parks were being studied.

The conference will continue for two days in Tirana and a number of government officials and business representatives are expected to read reports.

A central biomass liquid, two wind farms and a marine of 1000 megawatts designed to connect to the transmission network, Italian green energy produced in Albania. The programagreement between the Italian government and the Albanian led the Group Marseglia to invest in Albania, in the region of Lezhe, for a project in the energy sector, which is’ expected to be presented to the Fair east on the initiative of the Region Puglia next Thursday ‘September 18. The project already ‘authorized by the Manager of the transmission system (Ost) and by energy sector regulator (Ere) Albanians, now and’ undergoing final approval by the Albanian Government. The initiative involves the construction of a power station fuelled by liquid biomass power of 140 megawatts with an investment of around 150 million euros and two wind farms power of 234 megawatts with an investment of almost 250 million euros for a total , Plants producing green energy, 400 million euros. In collaboration with Terna spa, the project is completed by the interconnection of networks of high voltage from Italy to Albania via submarine cables, laid for 300 km in the Adriatic Sea between the coast of Puglia and Albania for an investment of about 600 million euros . The total investment for the first project organized by the Albanian Group Marseglia, sara ‘and then about 1 billion euros. For inclusion on the Italian network of energy transported by submarine, Terna has identified a technical solution connection providing connection to the national transmission grid through a new power station sorting north of Puglia. And ‘being Terna entrustment to the task of executing the design, aimed also access permissions ministerial and regional authorities. The operation of the facility will require ‘the training of qualified technical personnel. For this and ‘planned a period of training of engineers and workers Albanians in Italy, in establishments Group Marseglia; after training will be integrated in their installations Albanians. (ANSA). ZG

* ALBANIA THE SURPRISE EDI RAMA (article on “Panorama” – nr.52 of 23-12-2004
When the revolution is’ penelli career with the mayor of Tirana – Edi Rama, 40 years, loves definisri artist. Painter, a former professor of fine arts at Tirana … click here

* Books: foreign authors for Albania
Avvinto by the Spirit of Caramel la Rosa. The witness of love of the priest Ettore Cunial in queto book of 2003 with Editor: Stilo .. click here
* The editors of the journal Telematics & Near New Age reported heading dedicated to the artist
Arben Idrizi here …
* Books
“The Bride of waters” by Gino Luka and ‘an interesting collection of fairy tales bilingual Albanian / Italian in which boys Italians and other cultures’ live’ the current base our school can find stimulating food for thought and discussion. .. click here

* December 19, 2004
Palazzo dei Bergamaschi, org. by Art & Inves in two rooms, two exhibitions: “Bodies of the soul” and “Colors of the Mediterranean”. In the second room the young MILOT, Albanian artist, who, after their success at Maschio Angioino, presents for the first time in Rome the last work. A young talent who studied at Brera and is considered a great promise .. click here

* December 2004
Rrok Jakaj – A great pain for relatives and friends, a great loss for the Albanian art in the world!
. click here

* Monfalcone – December 7, 2004
Concert by the Quartet for Strings of the Tirana at 21.00 at the Auditorium of the Institute of Music A. Vivaldi, via G. Galilei 93 / A – Monfalcone. In Program Music by C. Zadeja, F. Schubert, P. I. Chaikowsky. Event organized by the musical “A. Vivaldi” of Monfalcone in collaboration with the Academy of Arts of Tirana (Albania), the Friuli Venezia Giulia, the Province of Gorizia and the Municipality of Monfalcone … click here

At the 2,150 th anniversary of the death of the Great King of Illyria, King Genzio, the upcoming November 2004, the “National League of associations and arberesh Albanians in Italy”, with the patronage of the Consulate General of the Republic of Albania to Milan, is organising a commemorative pilgrimage to the mausoleum that houses the remains of Genzio of Illyria.
click here …

* Genoa recalled Albert – Commemoration to Galata Museo del Mare.
Genoa – Monday, November 8, at the Galata Museum of the Sea held a ceremony to commemorate Albert Kolgjegja, the worker of Albanian nationality lost his life in the tragic collapse that occurred in the building Museo del Mare, on 8 November 2003 . click here ..

* Do ‘part of the series “Verbamundi” of publishing “Besa” the book “ALBANIA TODAY” with author Vito Lacirignola here ..

* The association Italo-Albanian “Friendship” during the celebrations in November: Concert, November 21, hours near the beach Rimini-Riccione … Info

* Zafina Vasa, art gallery, biography of the artist here

* 6 November 2004
Koncerto of Albanian singer and instrumentalist Ferdinand Bjanku in Rocca di Papa (Romaa) – Areas of Hannibal, at 16:00 hours. “The party of the people” a great activity that brings artists staged here …

October

* Throughout the month of October 2004 and ‘left open the exhibition “I love the art of small Albanian artist Jon Babatinca, in the sphere of Richview library – Toronto – Canada .. click here ..
* “Miss Albania in Italy”
The September 25, 2004, in Room 700 of ‘Auditorim Rome and’ was crowned the first “Miss” Albanians in Italy. It’s called Gentjan Totraku, 23 years, born in Lissus (Lezhe) … click here
* For collectors
It ‘been put on the market the book “History of Scanderbeg” Marin Barleti edition, published in the Italian language to age of the Venetian Republic, as far back as 1554. It is said that the book and taking very well, the cover in leather with the same old book here …

September

* The Association of Albanians in the Province of Rimini “ILIRIA” also this year in the second edition of the “Marathon of peoples” in Tirana in memory of the great Santa Albanian Mother Teresa ( “Mother Teresa Memorial Run”) here ..
* Under the patronage of the Province of Puglia, the town of Lecce and Section of Albanian to Rome. Celestini exhibited at Palazzo di Lecce September 12, 2004 the painter Artan Shabani. Expected participation of the Albanian writer Fatos Kongoli ….. click here
* Books
From libraries Italian a new book to read: Stigmate – Vrage with author: Hajdari Gezim here …

* Music
Rock Arberesh – Peppa Marriti Band: “It is the nature of Arbëresh cheerful: love conviti and entertainment, and with ispecialità is dilettano de ‘their dances. They used to go hill swords in hand singing songs …”… You here

August

* Books
BY COUNTRY OF AQUILE – Publishing: Besa 204 pages hosting the works of great authors Albanians from KADARE, AGOLLI here …

* III edition of National Competition Journalistic on-line Lidhja Award 2004 “, promoted by the” Research Center Socio-Cultural G. Kastriota “, the magazine Italo-greek-Albanian” Lidhja “, and the International Library” A. Bellusci “Frascineto here …
* Artan Shabani – exposes the Palazzo del Capitano to BATHROOM OF ROMAGNA (FC) from Saturday until August 7 to Sunday, August 29. The Exhibition of art organised by ‘Department of Culture of Bagno di Romagna and sponsored by the Councillorship Culture in the province of Forli-Cesena in collaboration with the Galleria Pugliese of’ Art Florence here ..

* Authors foreigners:
Mario Rigoni Stern “share Albania” A year of war and two military campaigns in France and in Albania: the discovery of hunger, of sadness without a fight here because …
* Music
Spasulati Band – the genre of Spasulati and ‘certainly unique, sort of mixture of allegrissimo reggae-ska contaminated with the culture arbereshe and can’ be seen as a personal interpretation of patchanka, but in Albanian sauce (arbereshe) here ..

* Dance and Musicadal 21 to 24 July 2004
3 Edition “Porto San Giorgio in DANCING” Holiday / Stage Academy GISELLE Dance and Music with the patronage of the Municipality of Porto San Giorgio (AP) Italy ….. click here
* Italy – Venice: July 7 at Palazzo delle Prigioni at 19:00 – Shows Art Artan Shabani “Water and the Balkans’ in the sea of Venice” with the patroncinio Veneto Region, City of Venice and Embassy of the Republic d ‘ Albania to Italy here …..

* The Italian Anschluss. The war in Albania (1939-1945) “by Bernd Fischer, is a synthesis of six years are crucial for the history Albanian and Italian. The book takes as its starting his Italian occupation of the” Land of Eagles “, an operation intended to segnare.clicca here

* Painting
a new theme in the work of painter Ormira Lulani, naked women. A topic dealt with by almost all the painters but expressed with a different concept and in its original style …. click here

* “Three songs funeral for Kosovo”, Ismail Kadare ‘, three stories in 108 pages
Publishing: TEA (2003) On 28 June 1989 the Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic unleashed the nationalist offensive against the Kosovo Albanians. From that day began the dissolution of Yugoslavia. But the choice of that date was not random here …

June

*

* Music
The Opera “Evminidha” of Albanian composer Vasil Tole will be ‘performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympics to ATHENS – Greece, August 2004 … click here

* Fresh print:
The book highly successful “24 emperors Albanians to drive Rome” by Alban Kraja. Journalist, writer, political published, in addition to this book in its third edition, also: “Kosovo, the soppravivenza of a people”, “Skanderbeg – The campaign of Italy” and it ‘about to leave his new book ” Iliria, Arberia, Albania “click here …
* Books of the authors Albanians
Publisher: Longanesi. (2002) “The bridge to three arches” – Ismail Kadare ‘, novel
… We are in 1377. The fake epileptic crisis that takes a poor, Gielosh the idiot, on the banks of the river cursed, Uyana, originator of the construction of the first stone bridge in Albania here ..
* Books:
“History of Albania” – Nuncio dell’Erba – Pocket Cheap Newton, 100 pages. Historical of Albania, analysis of socio-economic crisis the company ‘Albanian in the 90s, the historical process here …

* Editrice “Corbaccio” adds in its series “Writers from all over the world,” the success of the novel by Albanian writer Ismail Kadaré
“The general dell’armata dead” … click here
* Ismail Kadare ‘and’ Born in 1936 in the south of Albania. Narrator, Poet and literary critic, more ‘times Candidate Nobel Prize. Among his many novels, published in Italy: General dell’armata dead, Who has reported Doruntina?, The City ‘Stone, The Palace of Dreams, The Drums of rain … click here

* April 10, 2004
It was innaugurata at 17:00, w / or Limonaia of Villa Strozzi in Florence:
Exhibition of Painting Masters Silvio Loffredo and Artan Shabani, will present the artisti.Presentazione criticism by Prof.. Domenico Pugliese.Presenziera Ambassador of the Republic of Albania in Rome SE Prof.. Pellumb Xhufi. Click here

* March 30, 2004 – The artist Artan Shabani sets: in France, Strasbourg the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (March 30 to April 25) and other current exhibitions here ….

* March 20, 2004
At the ninth anniversary of the birth of ILIRIA – Rimini was’ held on March 20, 2004 hours from 14:30 a conference theme: the importance of culture in the process of integration among peoples during the conference were carried out also work on the birth of the first “National League of associations and arberesh Albanians in Italy”. Present the presidents of associations of Albanians and Arberesh … (click here)

* March 17, 2004-Vatican – The work of the young painter Albanian talent and success, Artan Shabani “Mother Teresa” and ‘was given to Pope John Paul II. In the ceremony of delivery of the artist was accompanied dall’Ambasciatore the Republic of Albania in Rome Albanian Rome prof.Pellumb Xhufi … (click here)

* March 8
Lek Pervizi and its activities’ artistic …. click here

* February 15
Under a draft Italian-Albanian front of the Theater “Migjeni” of Shkoder (Scutari), Albania, were planted in the new pine trees. On each and ‘was carved the name of un’attore … click here

2003

* December 14-January 6

EXPO 25th National Review (Italy) Format Piccolo – painting – sculpture – graphics
Center of Art and Culture Piovese. Join the review Alberto Saka
* December 12
SKANDERBEG – The campaign ITALY
the new book’s historical Alban Kraja (click here).
* December 11
The associations of Prov. Rimini Pesaro-Urbino and the Circle Skenderbeg organizzanoUNA GREAT EVENING
with the participation of the extraordinary troupe of artists Scutari (click here)
* December 3
CD with songs of Arberesh of South (click here)
* 1 to 7 December 2003
The International Festival of Short Films in Albania (click here)
* November 29
ASSOCIATIONS of Prov. Rimini and Pesaro-UrbinoORGANIZZANO for independence Albanian great evening
With the participation of extraordinary singers and humorists: Porto channel Riccione (click here)
* November 29
In newsstand these days the new book’s historical Alban Kraja (click here).
* November 20
In Exhibition in Paris from November 20 to December 5 to Galeri Racine, 35 works of painters Albanians: Artan Shabani, Ervin Hatibi, Adrian Dinners
* THE VOTE TO IMMIGRANTS? Born in RIMINI (click here)
* 15 to 23 November “I Pinocchio” Inauguration: November 15, 2003 17:00. Join the artist Albanian: Milot
* October 21 “MARATHON OF PEOPLES” (click here)
* November 8 to 20 – Show staff – Alberto Saka “Works of SAKA”
* October 31
Great Concert at the beatification of Mother Teresa European Association Students Albanians
19:00 hours – Theatre “Orion” – Rome Guests of honor: Drita Haxhiraj actress, singer Ferdinand Bjanku
* October 24
GJAKOVE – Expo staff painter Alban Meka

The public hospital medical facilities are still very weak while some private health facilities are higher level than public, even though they are still able to make interventions.

The public hospital medical facilities are still very weak while some private health facilities are higher level than public, even though they are still able to perform more complex. The sanitation situation is precarious because of open-air sewers, water infiltration in the network than sewer, low supply of water and the malfunctioning of waste disposal
It is satisfactory finding medicines in major cities, which are mainly imported from Italy, Greece and Romania. We recommend, however, to address the larger pharmacies and always check the expiration of medicines before the purchase.
There are still frequent, although declining gradually, cases of hepatitis, gastroenteritis, salmonellosis, tuberculosis, meningitis.
It is recommended, and then, after consulting doctor, vaccination against these diseases.
For any repatriations health emergency is a need to address at the Italian Embassy in Tirana (emergency number compatriots, active H24: 355.4.274900). You are strongly advised Finally, to conclude, before undertaking the journey, medical insurance, to include, in addition to coverage of medical expenses, including the possible return air health or transfer in any other country.

Warnings

It is recommended that:
Drink only water and bottled drinks without adding ice,
Not to eat food and raw minced meat,
Always wash and disinfect fruits and vegetables before consumption.